Monday, 10 June 2013

New horizons

Where do I start?I've been beavering away on so many projects this year that its difficult to know what to begin with.Firstly. My long-cherished stage play "Postcard From Vienna" is headed to the stage. It will be my stage debut as director and I'm thrilled to be able to realise an ambition that started out in my village hall when I was about 10 years old! It's a really exciting piece of work and I'm looking forward to working with some incredible talent on it.Of course, that doesn't mean I've gone all lovey and turned my back on film. Far from it. In the next few months I will be able to announce some big news on the film front, including a movie that I've been trying to make for about 6 years now. Anybody who knows my work will know which film that is, and I promise when "he" finally arrives he will be charming and sexy and very very dangerous indeed! Because I like hats, I believe you just can't wear enough of them. So...I'm very proud to be working with the Elstree UTC. The UTC is a brand new technical college, set up to be the arts version of the Brit School. I will be designing projects for students to assist their development in the world of film.It's 100% practical work and reminds me of the old apprenticeship system where young people learn their craft from professionals whilst they are actually doing the work.It's going to be interesting to see how these students develop over the next few years.

Finally, I would like to congratulate all the NUA Film and Moving Image students who are graduating this month. They have been wonderful to work with this year and their work has been exceptional and inspiring. Having seen work from other Universities, I can safely say Norwich is about to become one of the top university film courses in the country. The quality of work is outstanding. For me, teaching helps me become a better filmmaker. I take enormous pride in seeing students develop, and in doing so I learn more about myself as a filmmaker and a person. Its a huge privilege to be able to help others in ways that I never had when I first started out.